Sony to Drop PS2 to $99?
According to internal Target fliers, SCEA will drop PS2 to $99 in mid-November.

October 10, 2003 - When asked whether the price of the PlayStation 2 would drop to $99 this fall at Sony Computer Entertainment America's Gamers' Day this September, North American executives officially said no, there wasn't a need for a price drop.

After Nintendo America lowered the price of the GameCube on September 25 and the sales numbers came in, however, SCEA may have changed its collective mind.

Sources from Target today told IGN they have received printed fliers with the price of the PlayStation 2 at $99. The change will allegedly happen in mid-November, right before Thanksgiving, the traditional starting gate for Christmas shopping in North America.

But having spoken with other retailers and a Wall Street analyst with close connections to Target, there is no indication that SCEA has any intention to lower its hardware prices, much less skipping the $149.99 price point (The PS2 currently goes for $179.99). Logic works against the price drop. SCEA generally doesn't single out retailers to promote these kinds of changes; it usually works with the entire retail community. To add to that, SCEA has seen significant hardare sales thus far and it looks to make its ambitious projections for 2003 without lowering the price of the PS2.

In this console generation, Nintendo has remained the lowest priced console, but the price hasn't ever had a major effect on the Japanese manufacturer's market share in North America. The recent cut to $99 proved huge gains for Nintendo. In the last two weeks as it has managed to outsell the PS2, with some stores in the Bay Area selling as many as 70 units in the first few days.

This is almost reminiscent of the Sega Saturn fiasco. Sega jumped the gun and literally shot itself in the foot at the hands of Sony.

1995 had arrived, and Sega of America's long-time leader, Tom Kalinske, was worried. While the Saturn had sold very well after its Japanese launch in late '94, things didn't look so rosy on the American side. That PlayStation thingamajig was scrappy, and its clear superiority in the realm of 3D could sway impressionable American consumers. Kalinske and crew decided there was only one thing to do: launch the Saturn four months early to get the jump on the competition!

Scrapping the previously proposed "Saturnday" launch of September 2nd, Kalinske told his shocked E3 keynote audience that the Saturn was available across the country even as he spoke, for the suggested retail price of $399. The audience's response was tremendous; had Sega preemptively won the next generation wars?

Not even Kalinske's lovely smile could save the U.S. Saturn. Seems funny now, doesn't it?

In any case, the day was still young. During the next keynote, Sony Computer Entertainment America President, Steve Race, walked slowly to the podium and leaned carefully forward. He uttered a single phrase, but it was enough to make the crowd go wild: "$299." From that point on, Sony's PlayStation was the system to beat in the United States.

Unfortunately for Sega, it didn't gain much from its four month head start. The rush to launch the Saturn prematurely left the system with little software (much less good software), and the high price point went a long way toward killing the system at retail. Worse, launching at only four select retailers enraged those businesses that got left out, including 800 lb. gorillas like Wal-Mart. :crazed:

Hellboy

10-15-2003, 12:30 AM

I'm curious as to why anyone would even entertain the idea of purchasing a PS2 at this point even if it was only $99. I only kept mine because of the exclusive licenses like Final Fantasy and GTA. Now GTA is going to be available on X-Box and just about everything produced on the PS2 can be found on the Box with better graphics and a better controller to play with. I'd feel more compelled to purchase a GameCube at $99 because of the Nintendo classics if I was searching for a console on a budget.

mrmiller

10-15-2003, 05:00 PM

I'd shell out the extra for an Xbox. I think Sony is phasing out the regular PS2 and trying to make the Online version the standard version.

=MATT=

CooLJoE

10-15-2003, 09:13 PM

The difference for the regular PS2 and the online PS2 is just a PS2 online adapter being put into the box. Thats it. And in some places, they just don't carry the regular version and sell the online one at like $180 or whatever.

plasticfetish

10-16-2003, 03:15 PM

I'm curious as to why anyone would even entertain the idea of purchasing a PS2 at this point even if it was only $99.
I'd suppose it's because there are a lot of people out there that find the total choice for games (including all PS1 titles still available or available used) that can be bought and played on the system appealing. I think the real idea though, is that at $99 you'd be more apt to buy a PS2 and an X-Box and maybe even a Game cube. I know if X-Box dropped its price ... I'd be more apt to buy that system finally.

What did happen to the idea that they were going to start releasing a newer PS2 with an internalized broadband adapter, as well as a redone DVD remote setup? I assumed (from what I'd read) that the new version was going to come out and replace the current version that they're bundling with the snap-on broadband adapter right now.

Sony Corp. surprised the game industry this morning when it announced a 25 percent drop in its second-quarter profit. The electronics colossus also reduced its yearly operating profit forecast by 23 percent to 100 billion yen ($918 million) with a net profit forecast of 50 billion yen ($459 million).

Even more surprising was that Sony's games subsidiary, Sony Computer Entertainment, was one of the biggest reasons behind its stunted income.

SCE's sales fell 35.6 percent in Q2 2003, slashing the unit's profits 91 percent. The company cited research and development costs for their next-generation microprocessors as the main culprit, but also blamed sluggish PlayStation 2 sales in America. The one bright spot for the PS2 was Europe, where sales increased due to a competitive price drop, perhaps foreshadowing a similar move in the U.S. market.

Sony's Q2 report can be read via a PDF on Sony's investor-relations site. In Japan, Sony's stock closed down 5.04 percent to 3,960 yen ($36.13), ahead of the profit announcement, and fell further in after-hours trading.

Word of the reduced PS2 sales sent U.S. game publisher and sellers' stocks sliding as well. GameStop and EBgames' shares fell 2.17 and 4.83 percent, respectively, while Atari and Take Two dropped 3.2 and 4.24 percent, also respectively. THQ sunk 3.2 percent when Sony first announced the news, but had mostly recovered by press time.

However, it was Electronic Arts' parade that the Sony announcement really rained on. Late yesterday, the company had announced a both 53 percent increase in its quarterly profits and a forthcoming stock split. However, the Sony announcement pushed EA's stock down 3.72 percent to $98.05.

Ironically, EA's announcement contained further ill omens for Sony. The company slashed its PS2 software growth forecast to a range of 15 to 20 percent, a reduction of 10 percentage points. The company also reduced its estimates of 2003 North American PS2 console sales by 1 million, to 8 to 9 million units.

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Could this be the beginning of the end for Sony's dominance?

darthdeogg

11-16-2003, 12:40 PM

If the PS2 goes down to $99, I'll probably get one to keep as a spare. My PS2 is over 2 and a half years old. It'd be nice to have a spare one at the ready in case mine poops out.

My real problems with the X-Box and Gamecube is that there's maybe a handful of games total between the two that I would really be interested in (most of them ironically have the name Star Wars to them). If I HAD to choose between the two, I'd probably go Gamecubs, and get the Game Boy player.

CooLJoE

11-25-2003, 11:28 AM

What did happen to the idea that they were going to start releasing a newer PS2 with an internalized broadband adapter, as well as a redone DVD remote setup? I assumed (from what I'd read) that the new version was going to come out and replace the current version that they're bundling with the snap-on broadband adapter right now.

Well, there is a new version out. It can be noted by a yellow + on the corner of the box. Basically it gives you a built-in IR receiver for the DVD remote (no more putting it on a game port), progressive scan DVD playback, and a couple other things like being quieter. Nothing about the network adapter though. Still gotta screw it onto the back.